Minakshi Hooda etched her name into the history books as she clinched the gold medal at the World Boxing Championships on Sunday, September 14. Minakshi defeated the multiple-time Worlds gold medallist and Paris Olympics bronze winner Nazym Kyzaibay in the final to clinch the gold in the 48kg final in Liverpool.
Minakshi won the gold medal bout by a split decision of 4-1 after being given a tough competition from the Kazakh pugilist. She had won the first round 4-1 after showing an impressive display with her punches landing on her opponent. The Paris Olympics bronze medallist then mounted a comeback in the second round. Her blows troubled Minakshi as the Kazakh sealed the second round 3-2. The bout went down to the wire in the third round with both boxers trading punches and giving it their all to show their supremacy for the gold.
The Indian pugilist edged past the Kazakh opponent as she won the third round, with four judges giving the vote in her favour. She won the bout with a split decision of 4-1 to bag the gold.
Minakshi had faced Myzaibay in the World Boxing Cup final in Astana earlier in 2025 and had lost out to her in the gold medal bout. She completed her revenge of the Kazakh pugilist with a gold at the Worlds now.
Minkashi is the second Indian to have won the gold in the Boxing World Championships 2025 after Jaismine had clinched the yellow metal in the 57kg category after beating Julia Szeremeta in the final. Nupur Sheoran had earlier settled for silver after losing her final to Poland's Agata Kaczmarska 2-3. Another Indian pugilist - Pooja Rani - also bagged a bronze. She made her way into the semifinals but lost the bout to Emily Asquith 1-4 to take the bronze.
